英国驻重庆总领事史云森：重庆是一座极具独特性格的城市

贺煜

开栏语：近年来，重庆正以昂扬的姿态加快建设内陆开放高地，聚力打造中西部国际交往中心，其发展成就令人瞩目，一次次聚焦来自国际社会的目光。各国驻华大使纷纷来渝参访，12个国家在渝设立領事机构，近300家世界500强企业落户重庆。在渝工作、学习的外国友人见证重庆发展，参与重庆开放。他们眼中的重庆是什么样的？期待与重庆碰撞出怎样的火花？重庆市人民政府外事办公室主办“外国使领馆官员话重庆”“外国友人讲重庆故事”活动，重庆与世界杂志记者采访记录，在媒体上展示外国使领馆官员和外国友人眼中的“多面重庆”。

6月24日，在渝中区中山四路曾家岩书院，英国驻重庆总领事史云森与记者分享了他眼中的重庆，展望英国与重庆的合作前景，并预告了英国参与今年智博会的情况及领馆即将开展的活动。

“重庆是一座极具独特性格的城市”

2020年11月16日，61岁的史云森出任英国驻重庆总领事。而10年前，他曾就职于在重庆设立的中英合资企业。

史云森说，10年之后的重庆城市发展更快、规模更大，不仅在基础设施领域发展迅速，还变得非常自信、开放，国际化程度越来越高，对未来发展充满雄心。

在史云森看来，重庆中心城区有长江和嘉陵江穿流而过，城市周围群山环抱，赋予了这座城市独特的性格，让重庆显得与众不同。

在从事外交工作之前，史云森曾是一名桥梁工程师。当了解到重庆已建成14000多座桥梁和隧道，他很惊讶。“我印象最深刻的是渝中半岛上分别横跨长江和嘉陵江的东水门大桥、千厮门大桥。”史云森说，两座桥梁改善了重庆的城市交通，其桥梁本身也是非常棒的设计。

“英国与成渝地区具有广阔合作空间”

谈及成渝地区双城经济圈建设的国家战略将为川渝两地与英国的交往带来哪些机遇？史云森表示，重庆和成都两座城市都在雄心勃勃地推进这一战略，共同打造中国西部的经济引擎，这也给两地与英国在很多领域的合作带来机遇。

史云森说，英国在基础设施建设、运营和维护方面有很多经验可以分享。在医疗健康、教育等服务行业，特别是建筑设计领域都将有很大的合作空间。他表示，科研领域合作也值得探讨。西部（重庆）科学城是成渝地区双城经济圈建设的重要一环。今年初，他考察了西部（重庆）科学城，其发展规划令他震惊和振奋，“这是一个非常好的规划，涵盖气候变化、医疗合作、新能源汽车等众多领域，这些也是全球面临的共同挑战。”史云森表示，要应对这些挑战，就要开展更多的国际合作。

“英国将在今年智博会设国家馆”

“因受新冠肺炎疫情影响，从去年以来，我馆在西南地区举办了多场线上交流活动。随着中国对疫情的良好控制，今年正逐步转至线下。”史云森表示，今年下半年尤其值得关注的是将在线下同步举行的智博会，为中外企业提供面对面的交流机会，很多英国企业都非常期盼参与其中探索新的合作。他还透露，今年将继续在智博会搭设英国国家馆，集中展现英国在智能科技领域的企业。还将举办英国专场论坛及发布会，分享英国最顶尖、最前沿的科技成果和产品，展示中英企业合作的范例。

史云森介绍，今年英国将主办第二十六届联合国气候大会，中国也将在云南昆明举行联合国《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会。英国驻重庆总领事馆将举办一系列围绕“气候变化”和“生物多样性”两个全球议题的活动。在文化领域，英国驻华大使馆文化教育处将于9月启动“连接·重启”文化节，以线上线下相结合的形式展开。11月，将在成都熊猫国际美食荟中举办“英国日”活动。

On June 24， the Zengjiayan courtyard， at Zhongshan 4th Road， Yuzhong District， saw the sharing of Mr. Ellison with journalists on Chongqing in his eyes， the future of cooperation between the UK and Chongqing， the UK's participation in this year's Smart China Expo， and the Consulate General's upcoming activities.

"Chongqing is a city with unique DNA"

At the age of 61， Mr. Ellison became British Consul General in Chongqing on November 16， 2020. Ten years ago， he worked in a Sino-British joint venture in Chongqing.

Mr. Ellison held that the city of Chongqing， ten years later， is growing faster and bigger， not only in terms of infrastructure， also becoming quite confident， open， increasingly international， and ambitious about its future development.

To Mr. Ellison， the downtown area of Chongqing sees the juncture of Yangtze River and Jialing River， and the city is surrounded by mountains， giving the city a unique personality， and making it stand out.

Prior to his diplomatic career， Mr. Ellison worked as a bridge engineer. He was surprised to learn that 14，000 or more bridges and tunnels had been built in Chongqing. “The Dongshuimen Bridge and the Qiansimen Bridge， spanning the Yangtze and Jialing rivers respectively on the Yuzhong Pennisula impressed me most.” Mr. Ellison believed the two bridges have improved Chongqing's urban traffic and the design of bridges themselves is awe-inspiring.

"A vast scope for cooperation between the UK and the Chengdu-Chongqing region in areas

The national strategy of constructing the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle is promoting synergistic development between Sichuan and Chongqing， what opportunities will this bring for interactions between the two cities and the UK？ Both cities are ambitiously pursuing this strategy to build an economic engine for Western China， and this presents opportunities for cooperation with the UK in many areas， stated Mr. Ellison.

Mr. Ellison emphasized that the UK's experience in infrastructure construction， operation， and maintenance could all be shared. There will be ample potential for cooperation in the service sectors such as healthcare， education， and particularly in the field of architectural design. Scientific and technological cooperation is also worth exploring， he noted. The Western （Chongqing） Science City is an integral part of the development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. The development plan of the city， during his visit earlier this year， astonished him with excitement. “It is a very good plan covering many areas such as climate change， medical cooperation， and new energy vehicles， a common challenge confronting the world.” Mr. Ellison considered that only more international cooperation is needed can these challenges be addressed.

"The UK will put up a national pavilion at the upcoming Smart China Expo"

“The British Consulate General has held many online events for exchange in Chinas southwest since last year， due to the shockwaves of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the coronavirus kept at bay in China， it is gradually turned to offline this year.” Of particular interest later this year， said Mr. Ellison， will be the online and offline launch of Smart China Expo， a boon to face-to-face networking for Chinese and foreign businesses， and many UK companies are very much looking forward to attending it and exploring new collaborations. He also disclosed that the UK will continue to set up the national pavilion at the Expo this year， putting UK companies in the smart technology sector under the spotlight. Forums and launch events dedicated to UKs cutting-edge technologies and products as well as examples of cooperation between UK and Chinese enterprises will be organized too.

This year the UK will host the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference （COP26） and China will convene the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity （COP 15） in Kunming， Yunnan Province. The British Consulate General in Chongqing will be organizing a series of activities around the global issues of climate change and biodiversity. In the cultural front， the British Council in China will launch the "Link-Restart" cultural festival in September， a blend of online and offline activities. In November， a “UK Day” will be staged during the Chengdu Panda International Food & Culture Carnival.